


A Right Pair

by theimpossiblepossiblegirl



Series: 52 Short Stories in 52 Weeks [46]
Category: Broadchurch, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Kid Fic, bit of family fluff towards the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 19:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9086647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theimpossiblepossiblegirl/pseuds/theimpossiblepossiblegirl
Summary: Rose is the bad cop parent at home while Alec is the good cop parent. It breaks her heart every time her daughter gets into trouble.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Week Forty-Six: A story about anger.

“Penelope, darling, what’s wrong?” Alec leaned against the door and watched his eight year old as she threw her toys into her basket, dried tears on her cheeks.

“Mum won’t let me go with Daisy to the movies.” Penelope sniffed slightly as she climbed up onto her bed. “I hate her.”

His heart clenched as he looked at her. “Did you tell Mummy this?”

“Yes. She told me I couldn’t watch the telly for the weekend. It’s not fair, Daddy. I just wanted to go with Daisy.” Penelope’s bottom lip trembles as she starts crying again.

“Settle down, darling.” Alec walked over to her bed and sat down next to her. There were some days he forgot how much their daughter was like his wife and was quickly reminded of that fact when they argued with each other. Both women were equally stubborn and wore their emotions on their sleeves. He rubbed her back gently, trying to calm her down. He knew she was angry, her mother too. “Why did you tell Mummy you hated her?”

“It’s true, Daddy. I do. She’s mean.”

Time to change tactics.

“Why did you want to go to the movies with Daisy?”

“I wanted to see the new _Star Wars_ movie.”

“Darling, you’re a bit too young for that movie. Mummy just wants to make sure you watch age appropriate movies.”

Penelope looked up at him, light brown eyes meeting his own dark brown ones. “It’s not fair. I’m eight, I want to see it.”

“How about if Daisy takes you to see _Moana_ or _Sing_? Would you like that?”

“I want to see _Star Wars_ , Daddy.” She rubbed at her eyes as tears fell down her cheeks again.

“Darling, I’m sorry, but you can’t see it. I’m going to have to agree with Mummy on this.”

“It’s not fair, Daddy.”

“I know. How about you take a nap and I’ll come up and check on you later?” Getting up from the bed he lifted her up pulled her blanket down and laid her against her pillow. “I think once you’ve rested you’ll feel better. I also think you need to say you’re sorry to Mummy.”

“No.” She frowned as she reached for her bear and turned her back to her father as she closed her eyes.

Alec let out a sigh as he made his way out of the room, closing the door behind him. Going down the stairs he found his wife sitting on the couch, staring out of the window. Making his way over to her, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before sitting down next to her.

“She’s taking a nap.”

“She’s so angry with me.” Rose sniffled slightly as she turned to look at him.

“Hey, none of that. I can only handle one of my girls crying today.” He joked lightly as he wrapped his arm around her. “What happened?”

“Daisy called and wanted to talk to Penelope so I put her on. I went back in the kitchen and she came in a few minutes later asking if she could go to the movies with Daisy. She had told Penelope she was going and Penelope really wanted to go too. I asked Daisy what movie she was going to see and when she told me, I told Penelope no, but that we would take her to see something else.” She sniffled lightly, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “I ended the call with Daisy, told her you would call her later, and tried to explain to Penelope why she couldn’t go.”

“I would have told her no too, Rose. Don’t beat yourself up over this.”

“She told me she hated me. All because of a stupid movie.”

“Did you ever tell your mum you hated her?”

She nodded her head slightly. “Yeah, when I was fifteen.” She looked up at him, her eyes wide. “I was upset because she didn’t like Jimmy, didn't want me to see him. I didn’t realize how much it would have hurt her.”

“But you apologized to her, right?”

“Yeah, of course. Took me a bit of time. Did Daisy ever tell you she hated you?”

“When she was twelve. I had been working too much and I missed out on a parents’ night. She wouldn’t talk to me for a week. But she got over it and apologized to me.”

“Did she ever tell Tess?”

“A few times. It was after the divorce, mostly.”

Rose nodded her head briefly before leaning against his side. “Am I a good mum?”

“The best.” He assured her. “Penelope will come around.”

It was a little before three when Penelope came running downstairs with her bear clutched in her arms, looking for her mum. “Mummy!” She made her way over to the couch and climbed on it quickly, scampering over to her mum for a hug. “I’m sorry I said I hated you. I really don’t.”

Rose scooped their daughter up in her arms and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I know that, love. But you can’t tell someone you hate them just because you can’t do something you want to.”

“I know, Mummy. I won’t.”

“You also need to stop inviting yourself along with Daisy when she goes places. She might not always be able to take you.”

Penelope’s bottom lip quivered as she nodded her head. “I just miss Daisy, Mummy.”

“How about you and Daddy go visit her one day, would you like that?” Rose suggested, glancing over briefly at Alec.

“Okay, Mummy.”

“Now, go back upstairs. Remember, no television for the weekend.”

“Yes, Mummy.”

Alec watched as his daughter made her way back upstairs, a petulant look on her face. “She’s still angry.”

“I’m aware. But I’m not letting her get away with things like this anymore.”

“Agreed.” He pressed his lips against her temple. “You’re a good mum, Rose. Don’t doubt that. To both of our girls. You’re doing the right thing.”

“It’s just hard being the bad guy.” She mumbled.

“I can be the bad guy then. Let them be angry with me.”

Rose gave him a tiny grin as she slipped her legs over his lap. “When it comes to your girls, you can’t be the bad guy, Alec. You love them too much to be that.” She grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together. “We make a great team.”

“We do. We’ve been through worse and we’ll get through this. Together.”

“Together.” She gave him a shy grin before nestling against his chest.


End file.
